Transcript Exploring the Gifts Among Us

Exploring the Gifts
Among Us
General Assembly 2008
Rev. Dr. Terasa Cooley
Rev. Nancy Bowen
S
The Leadership Challenge
S Emphasis on lay authority has not translated into
empowered lay leadership
S Chronic difficulty in recruiting lay volunteers
S Few models of lay leadership training
S Leaders get burned out and disrespected
S Difficulty in knowing “who’s in charge”
Another Leadership Model
S Generative Leadership is characterized by:
Making meaning of the past: learn lessons, shape the story, sensemaking
Reframing problems and opportunities:
Decide on what to decide: raise introspective questions, consider
hypotheticals
Discover emergent strategies: suspend logic,
Promote robust discourse: confer, review actions to uncover goals
Richard Chait, Governance as Leadership
Assumptions
S Leadership Development invites one to consider what
is fulfilling rather than “fill the slot”
S Leadership development is engaged at every level of
congregational life
S Leadership should be fulfilling not exhausting - people
should be able to grow spiritually
S We have to rethink the “work” of the church
Congregational Assessment
S How many members?
S What percentage of members are actively involved in
leadership?
Actively engaged in ministry/programs?
S What are previous leaders doing in the congregation now?
S Do your leaders know what is expected of them? What is?
S Are people happily stepping forward into leadership?
S What are the rewards of leadership in your congregation?
Culture Shifts
S Can’t take for granted that we know what the “work
of the church” is.
S Consider the different mind sets brought by different
generations
S Shift from “atom” to “bit”
S From “religion” to “spirituality”
Generational Perspectives
S Our Church Elders: Everything is a War, people do their
duty.
S Baby Boomers: Everything is a Movement, everyone is
involved in spontaneous work.
S The Youngers: Everything is a Store, things should be
excellent and prepared.
S The Multi-taskers: Everything is complex but can be
simplified, looking for connection beyond the technology.
Bridging the Gaps
S Different understanding of responsibilities of membership
S Not just an attitude; a worldview
S Generational values are not easily negotiated
S Multi-modal church is scary, and healthy
S If we didn’t have new generations we would have no future
S If we didn’t have older generations we wouldn’t have any
tradition
Impediments
S “We’ve always done it this way”
S “What if the work doesn’t get done”
S Don’t know a different way
S Letting go of control
S Trusting a new generation
S Over-functioning
Exercise
Describe an experience in your congregation when
leadership felt exciting, energizing and rewarding.
What about this experience made it so memorable?
What can you do to encourage more of these
experiences for yourself and others?
Culture Change Requires
Language Change
S From “recruit” to “invite”
S From “delegate” to “share the ministry”
S From “volunteer” to “serve”
S From “Committee” to “Team”
S From “Goods & Services Institution” to “servant
leadership”
Implications for Leaders Credibility
S Clarity of direction
S Character
S Competence
Implications for Leaders Context
S Different contexts call for different kinds of leadership
Welcoming a new minister
Building or expanding a church facility
Experiencing rapid membership growth
S No such thing as one “superleader” for all contexts
Implications for Leaders Legacy
S The mark of a leader is the capacity to encourage more
leaders
S “Not to develop others in leadership while involving them in
ministry is to use and ultimately abuse them”
S Difference between fulfilling a task and developing a leader
Empowerment
Defined:
Empowerment is the intentional transfer of authority
to an emerging leader within specified boundaries from
an established leader who maintains responsibility for
the ministry.
Building Leaders, Aubrey Malphurs & Will
Mancini
What Empowerment is Not
S Directing: Leader keeps both authority and
responsibility
S Abdicating: Leader gives away both authority and
responsibility
S Disabling: Leader gives away responsibility but keeps
authority
Spiritual Disciplines of
Empowerment
S From control to faith (embracing uncertainty) --
empowerment increases the possibility of unknown
outcomes
S From expediency to patience -- requires a sacrifice of short-
term efficiency to gain greater depth of meaning and
connection
Spiritual Disciplines of
Empowerment
S From power to humility -- empowerment requires giving up
something even when you are successful at it
S From isolation to love -- empowerment necessitates close
support and authentic community
What is your spiritual
discipline?
Congregational
Dynamic
Reactive Desire
New Goal
Discipline
Unknown
possibilities
Control
Embrace the
uncertainty
Have faith in the
possible
Sacrifice shortterm efficiency
Expediency
Slow down now
to speed up later
Patience
Giving away
personal
authority
Power
Starve your ego
Let go/ share
Necessities of
community
building
Isolation
Connect with
others
Love
Moving from entitlement to
empowerment
S What can you do to shift the leadership emphasis from
meeting perceived needs to fulfilling the mission of the
congregation?
S What can you do to shift the focus from “What I receive” to
“What I offer”?
S What can you do to encourage the sense of “a people drawn
into community to serve one another and the world”?
Implications for Staff
S Much greater need for increased number of staff - release
volunteers to do the work they love
S Everyone is responsible, but best if one person coordinates -
“facilitator of equipping ministry”
S Stay informed, but let go of control
Methods of Leadership
Development
S Conversation, conversation, conversation!
S Surveys, interest forms, etc. only helpful as documentation,
not solicitation
S Based on how members are called to serve, not on what the
organization wants.
Methods, cont’d
S Connect - interview and assess
S Discovery: Gifts, talents, temperament, life experience,
and passions
S Matching and Placement
S Equip
S Training, feedback, affirmation & evaluation
S Recognition and reflection
S Centralized and decentralized
S Support
Your Leadership Legacy
S A congregation that leads from its gifts rather than from its
“shoulds”
S An empowered, self aware, spiritually attuned group of
leaders
S An atmosphere where people feel honored for their
contributions, and know it’s “not about me”. It is about
mission.
Resources
S Bass, Richard, ed. Leadership in Congregations. Herndon, VI: Alban
Institute, 2007.
S Chait, Richard, William P. Ryan & Barbara E. Taylor. Governance
as Leadership. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons, 2005.
S Galford, Robert M. & Regina Fazio. Your Leadership Legacy.
Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2006.
S
Heifetz, Ronald & Marty Linsky. Leadership on the Line. Boston:
Harvard Business School Press, 2002.
Resources, cont’d
S Lencioni, Patrick. Silos, Politics and Turf Wars. San Francisco:
Jossey Bass, 2006.
S
Mallory, Sue & Brad Smith. The Equipping Church Handbook.
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Press, 2001.
S
Malphurs, Aubrey & Will Mancini. Building Leaders. Grand
Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2004.
S Olsen, Charles M. & Ellen Morseth. Selecting Church Leaders.
Nashville: Upper Room Books, 2002.
Resources, cont’d
S Rendle, Gil. The Multigenerational Congregation: Meeting the
Leadership Challenge. Alban Institute, 2002,
S Steele, Elizabeth How Responding to People’s Needs Hurts the Church,
article in Congregations, the Alban Institute magazine, Spring
2008. (on the current confusion between needs and wants)